The FBI and local police are investigating after gunshots shattered windows at a Tesla dealership in Oregon on Wednesday morning—the latest potential sign that Tesla’s CEO, billionaire-turned-“bureaucrat” Elon Musk, is stirring discontent throughout the nation.
The dealership, which is located in the state’s capital city of Salem, was struck by gunfire and a car was lit on fire. Police at the scene said they were investigating arson and vandalism crimes. The same dealership was apparently the site of similar vandalism last month when windows were broken and a car was set on fire, Electreck reports.
An image circulated on the internet Friday that web users claimed was taken at the crime scene. The image showed a sticker appended to a window with an inscription: “Kill Elon.” However, it wasn’t clear whether the image was real or an internet fabrication.
A Tesla showroom was liquidated with bullets in Oregon and the mysterious 2nd Amendment enthusiasts left a note for Musk. 😱 pic.twitter.com/4b4w0PFSov
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) February 20, 2025
Rightwing influencers immediately leaped on the incident (and the questionable image) to claim that the “crazy left” was responsible for the attack, despite the fact that most liberals have an aversion to guns. It’s unclear who is responsible for the vandalism, and, so far, quite limited information has been put out by authorities. Indeed, it’s not even clear yet whether the attack was targeted or not. Gizmodo reached out to the Salem Police Department for more information and will update this story if it responds.
Local residents have expressed discontent over the incident: “It is very unfortunate that we live in these times that these things are happening,” Tesla car owner Sharon Monsivais told a local outlet. “I recognized that Elon Musk is a very controversial figure, and I bought this car knowing that he was a controversial figure. I don’t agree with everything that he does and don’t like him quite frankly, but I wanted an environmentally friendly car. I think it’s sending the wrong message to shoot up a dealership that has nothing to do with presumably whatever their feelings are.”
Earlier this month, an attack was carried out at a Tesla dealership in Colorado, where numerous vehicles were vandalized with spray paint. Protesters have also begun to show up outside of Tesla dealerships to express anger at Musk. At one dealership in San Francisco where protestors gathered, a sign was hung in an upper window that read “We hate him too.”
Attacks on Musk’s businesses are not particularly surprising, given the fact that the billionaire has been pissing off millions of people all over the world. Here in the U.S., he has initiated a government-destruction project (DOGE) that has led to the expulsion of thousands of federal employees. The initiative has caused mayhem at agencies designed to dispense services to the public, and Musk has also gestured at cutting funding for pivotal social welfare programs like Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. The shockwaves from this destruction appear to even be impacting those who voted for Trump—as reports have come out in recent days of discontent at a GOP town hall in Georgia over DOGE. Musk has also been messing with the politics of foreign governments, leading to significant backlash against him and his companies overseas.
Since Musk “took office,” Tesla has also suffered as a business. The company’s stock is down, as are its expected delivery levels.
Protesting Musk’s businesses may make sense for pissed-off voters, though violent attacks on them will ultimately only justify the use of the federal government to protect those businesses, as Trump’s new FBI—now headed by MAGA diehard Kash Patel—is sure to become involved in investigating such incidents. In other words, such attacks may serve as a rationale to let loose America’s federal police on critics of Musk’s corporate empire.